The year-end report of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) shows that revenue from digital downloads dropped to $ 1.3 billion last year. While sales of physical media, although also down, only fell to US $ 1.5 billion.
However, the music streaming service still dominates. By 2016, more than half of the total revenue of the music industry comes from streaming. This growth continues into 2017.
Last year, streaming contributed nearly two-thirds of the total revenue of the music industry, which is about US $ 5.7 billion. This figure is up 43 percent.
The reason the contribution of music streaming is so great is the growing popularity of streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music. Interestingly, there is a new category that is growing rapidly though not too noticed by the public. The category is called "unlimited paid subscription".
Basically, this service is the same as other paid music streaming services, it's just that it has its limitations. For example, Amazon offers unlimited streaming music service for US $ 4, but this service can only be used on one Echo.
